CBC Radio OttawaAll in a Day, with host Alan NealInternational Day for the Abolition of SlaveryDecember 2nd 2011(excerpts)

Alan Neal (AN): When you talk about ending slavery, what are we really talking about?

Christina Harrison Baird, Chairperson, PACT-Ottawa (CHB): “Slavery in its modern form takes many guises. We work primarily on the issue of human trafficking, which, in Canada and in Ottawa in particular, tends to take two specific forms. One is sexual exploitation and the other is labour exploitation, sort of an oft-forgotten form of human trafficking. Of course it is distinct from slavery as it was historically known because at that time it was perfectly legal. Now of course it is criminalized both in our immigration and in our criminal law. Nonetheless it persists and so we’re working to end it in all of its forms.”

AN: How do you end it then?

CHB: “The first step, and something that PACT has spent a lot of time on, is public awareness. If we are aware that there is the possibility that someone could be held against their will and their labour -- of whatever kind -- exploited and that person not paid and mistreated, then of course we will work to stop that. Canadians consider themselves to be part of a just and democratic and free society. And so just bringing the fact of this modern day form of slavery to people’s attention is the first step. And that works to help potential victims, it may prevent someone from falling victim to this human rights abuse. It also means that where it is occurring people will pay enough attention to bring it to the attention of the authorities.” …

CHB: “PACT-Ottawa works in partnership with other groups in our community. We are part of the Ottawa Coalition to End Human Trafficking. We in fact co-founded that organization with another organization, St. Joe’s Women’s Centre. And so now that network --which we helped to found-- is forty-five service providers strong. So these are existing service providers who either do or can provide services to human trafficking victims, who have networked together to formalize a response so that we’re ready when cases like the one in September [2011] arise. And in fact members of the Coalition were involved in helping that victim.”

AN: What kind of protection does Canada provide?

CHB: “When we’re trying to help people, we need to respect their human rights and I think Canada has a varied record on that. … Trafficking may or may not involve movement. It also may or may not involve a foreign national. So the protections would be different for a Canadian national as opposed to a foreign national, simply because the foreign national is in a more vulnerable position. They wouldn’t have access to some of the services that Canadians would unless they are recognized as a potential victim of human trafficking. Canada does have in place Ministerial Guidelines that allow for the issuance of a Temporary Residence Permit to a foreign national who has been recognized as a possible victim of human trafficking. So that’s one of the protections and then that opens up the opportunity to apply for a work permit for legitimate and paid work. It offers the opportunity to get access to emergency medical assistance if that’s necessary. And various other protections come into play once that Temporary Residence Permit has been issued. Obviously where the person is a Canadian, they would notionally have access to lots of services. But what we’ve seen is that often people are part of Aboriginal communities and then therefore don’t necessarily have access to all of the services that we might assume they do. There are lots of nuances to master in terms of getting the services that people provide [sic need] .”